


One Step, Two Step

by Symphoenae



Series: Musical Callum Saga [1]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Callum is stupid, Dancing, F/M, Fluff, I continue to write Callum as musical as i am, Pre-Relationship, Rayla is way too good at teasing him, and I will not apologize for it, cute sketches, pre-Silvergrove
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:53:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22564303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Symphoenae/pseuds/Symphoenae
Summary: Callum knows Rayla thinks he can't see her. Truthfully, he really can't, not in the normal way at least. He can hear her, though, hear her well enough to create a picture in his mind on what exactly she was doing. He also knew if he turned around, she'd immediately stop the moment she knew she was being watched. Which was weird enough, since Callum would never judge her for anything, but he supposed she wasn't quite there yet on levels of trusting him. Fair enough. He strained his ears just a bit as he continued to listen to her movements over the sound of his own humming.
Relationships: Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Series: Musical Callum Saga [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1624684
Comments: 7
Kudos: 60





	One Step, Two Step

**Author's Note:**

  * For [enbyred](https://archiveofourown.org/users/enbyred/gifts).



> I'm gonna pretend that violins and pianos and whatever else instruments used in the song in question exist in the TDP universe somewhere and you can't stop meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee  
> Listen. I had to do this. I'm obsessed with this instrumental. It MAY OR MAY NOT BE because of my thing with good violin things. Hehe. I have a thing for violins in songs. Have you ever heard Start//End by EDEN? That OPENING dude. But also this song is gas. It's a cover of an Undertale song lmao AND I KNOW YOU MIGHT BE THINKING "oh no Undertale" but listen. I don't care where a song might be from. IF IT SLAPS, IT SLAPS.
> 
> Also this is a gift to enbyred because their AU of Dancer!Rayla inspired this tm
> 
> Song: Undyne the Undying (But the Earth Refused to Die) Orchestral Version - Osirois Music

Callum knows Rayla thinks he can't see her. Truthfully, he really can't, not in the normal way at least. He can hear her, though, hear her well enough to create a picture in his mind on what exactly she was doing. He also knew if he turned around, she'd immediately stop the moment she knew she was being watched. Which was weird enough, since Callum would never judge her for anything, but he supposed she wasn't quite there yet on levels of trusting him. Fair enough. He strained his ears just a bit as he continued to listen to her movements over the sound of his own humming.

Yes, humming. They were in another cave for the night, Zym most likely sleeping still despite the auditory distractions he was causing. Callum doesn't fully remember where he'd heard the melody before, he only knew that humming it really didn't do it justice. When he'd first truly heard it, he'd been able to distinguish violins and pianos and all sorts of beautiful sounding instruments, nothing his small voice could ever convey or live up to. Still, if you asked him what spurred the desire to hum the song that had buried itself so deep in his memory that remembering it had been a surprise, Callum wouldn't have an answer. He surprised himself even more with his willingness to hum the song over and over again on a loop. He'd thought that if it didn't annoy him, surely it would annoy his-- Rayla. Just Rayla. What on Earth was that thought insinuating?

But no, it seemed like it didn't bother Rayla either. In fact, quite the opposite. At some point in his continuous looping, he'd heard the elf get to her feet quietly. There had been a pause, like she was considering her next actions, before Callum began to hear the patterned stepping of her movements that stayed in time with the beat on the song he was humming. It took him a shameful few moments to figure out what the sounds were, but he realized with surprise that Rayla was actually _dancing along._

No words were spoken between the two of them at any moment either. It was just Callum, sitting facing the mouth of the cave, humming away, getting more into it with each repeat, and Rayla, behind him where he couldn't "see' her, stepping in time to his melody, most likely gracefully as ever considering her talents and skill. Part of him wanted so desperately to turn around, just to catch a proper glance at what she was doing, but the other part of him didn't want to ruin this moment. Something about the moment now was different, meaningful and comfortable in a way that Callum couldn't quite understand. At least his brain knew well enough not to interrupt it. So for the time being, he tried to ignore the itch to turn around and focus on his humming.

Though in his mind's eye, he could see it all. Rayla behind him, moving in sync to his humming. One step, two steps, three steps, a twirl. Repeat with minimal change in routine. He decided to imagine her with her eyes closed, just like he was, focused only on her movements and nothing else from the outside world. He liked to think that in this rare moment, she was truly relaxed, and wasn't on edge like she was all of the time. Rayla would always tell him she had a duty to protect him and Zym on her own life, and on her own health as an afterthought. All that stress of worrying about their surroundings couldn't be good for her. He hoped this downtime would help relieve some of it, even if it was only for the night. He kept his eyes closed for a bit longer, focused on the images he'd created and the song he was humming, before he opened them again. Without turning around, or making much movement at all, he pulled his sketchbook into his lap and began to draw.

He'd drawn Rayla before, that was no secret. But he had to be a little secretive about it this time. Callum didn't know what movement might startle her out of her trance, and he didn't want to take that chance. Humming and drawing at the same time provided a bit more of a challenge than he'd expected, but he worked with it anyway. He knew for a fact that if he stopped humming, Rayla would stop too, and he wanted her to have as much fun and enjoyment out of this magical moment as possible. She'd done so much for him and Zym, the least he could do was provide some help to relax. As he sketched, his humming got sloppier and sloppier the more CPU he put into focusing on the drawing. He only had a mental image that never met his eyes, so it was certainly a little different than what he was used to drawing. He even stopped paying much attention to the sounds of Rayla dancing. Soon enough, he had his sketch lined and began to work on the detail. At this point, he stopped humming entirely, voice trailing off in the middle of a repeat. He was so focused on his drawing now that he didn't hear Rayla also stop behind him.

Callum jolted when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked back and saw Rayla staring at him, a hand on her hip and a brow cocked, her eyes flicking quickly to his drawing and back at him, questioning.

"I didn't realize you were watching. You could've said something, you know." She teased, moving to sit next to him.

"I-I didn't." Callum said, worried she was mad at him.

Her teasing smile fell away as a look of confusion washed over her face. "But... then how...?"

"I heard your movements." Callum explained quickly. "It wasn't too hard to figure out what you were doing, and I've already seen you enough times to be able to imagine a clear picture of what you looked like, even with my back turned."

She blinked. "Wow, Callum. That's some advanced artistry stuff right there." She paused, looking over the drawing again. "Any particular reason you decided you wanted to draw me dancing?"

Callum felt his cheeks heat up a little. Why was he reacting like this? "Oh... uh.... I just thought the moment was special, you know? Different from what we've experienced so far. We've had a lot of danger and paranoia, it was nice to think for a moment both of us were relaxed for once."

Rayla continued to stare at him, her mouth agape slightly as if she was surprised by Callum's answer. This made Callum feel like he was digging himself even deeper. He started backpedaling.

"Uh...I won't do it again though if it makes you uncomfortable. I guess I should have asked, but you were having fun, at least I think, and I didn't want to interrupt--"

"Callum."

"Ye-yeah?"

"It's okay. It was just thoughtful of you, that's all." She smiled warmly. "You were right. I was having fun. I suppose I have you to thank for that, with your humming and all. So, thank you."

Callum stared back almost dumbfounded. "You're welcome."

She smiled again, but this time snatched the sketchbook from his lap and closed it gently. "It's getting late, you should go get some rest. I don't want to have to deal with a grumpy Callum tomorrow." She teased again.

Callum, overwhelmed with how comfortable she was acting with him suddenly, could only nod and stood up to go where Zym was curled up. He managed to stutter out a half-assed 'Goodnight Rayla' before he went.

Perhaps if he'd stayed in place just a second longer, he would have seen the faint blush adorning his elf companion's cheeks, and the almost dreamy look in her eyes as she stared between his sketch and his retreating back.

**Author's Note:**

> I am a music nut. I rely on music so much to live its not even funny. I've long since realized that no one will quite understand my connection with music and how important it is to me, but I can still try, right?
> 
> Also it's been a fat while since I've been able to say I had actual motivation to write something that isn't a shitpost. So there's that. I actually didn't stress about getting this done, it's a miracle!
> 
> DISCORD: https://discord.gg/nM7XTfQ  
> (Please do note that when joining the server you have to post in the #introductions channel first so I can assign you a proper role and then you'll have access to the main chat~)


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